ST. PAUL, Minn.- The Macalester College women's basketball team used a solid second half to stay in the game with St. Olaf but the second quarter proved to be the difference maker. The Scots lost 65-50 at home to the Oles. Macalester is now 1-14 (0-10 MIAC) on the season while St. Olaf improves to 7-8 (4-6 MIAC) after tonight's win.
Senior guard
Holly Hull (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley Northwest) made the first bucket of the game on a nice jump shot. The Oles quickly answered with a layup to make the score 2-2. After St. Olaf jumped out to a 12-4 lead, the Scots responded with a 6-0 run to tie the game at 12 with 3:04 left in the first quarter. After a few possessions, junior guard
Justine Barraza (Burbank, Calif./ Harvard-Westlake) made an old-fashioned three-point play to give the Scots a 15-14 lead. First year guard
Solana Cushing (Minneapolis, Minn./South) hit a nice three pointer with just a few seconds left on the clock to extend the Scots lead to 18-14 after the first quarter.
The second quarter, Macalester was outscored 22-5. The Oles took a 36-23 lead into halftime. With the Scots down by 17 to start the second half, the offense did everything in their power to get back in the game. Cushing buried another three-pointer to make the score 40-26. St. Olaf took a 48-33 lead into the fourth quarter. Junior forward
Kayla Togneri (Ventura, Calif./Ventura) scored the first two points of the fourth quarter for Macalester and Junior forward
Katherine Podoll (San Geronimo, Calif./Sir Francis Drake) nailed a big three-pointer to make the score 50-38. A strong layup from junior guard
Luci Swift (Minnetonka, Minn./Hopkins) made the score 55-48 which cut the deficit to just seven points. The Oles shortly pulled away and ended up winning 65-50.
Hull led the team offensively with 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting. Hull also finished with nine rebounds, which was one shy of a triple double. Barraza also chimed in with eight points on the day by going 6-of-7 from the charity stripe. Barraza also dished out five assists.
Macalester will be back in action Wednesday, January 22 as they take on MIAC foe University of St. Thomas. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
Box Score
